DESK – Germany in the South Caucasus: Institutions and Development

Since autumn 2023 Tbilisi State University (TSU) and Free University Berlin’s (FUB) Institute for Eastern European Studies offer a joint study programme in German language open to all TSU students free of charge. In the course of one year the TSU students who are enrolled in DESK attend DESK classes in German language in Tbilisi in addition to their regular degree programmes.

The one-year-long programme consists of three modules focussing on German (political) economy taught in German in Tbilisi, as well as a six-week-long internship during the summer period.

DESK provides expertise and skills beyond those offered through regular TSU programmes. Students gain regional expertise concerning Germany. They enhance their intercultural competences and last but not least consolidate their German language skills through studying German politics and economics in German language.

Upon successful completion of the programme, all students receive a certificate indicating individual grades. In addition, the three highest-ranked students will be offered a fully-funded scholarship to study one semester at Free University in Berlin.

DESK is an instance of cooperation between TSU and FUB. TSU is one of the principal research universities not only in Georgia, but in the whole Caucasus. FUB is one of the leading German universities and has been distinguished as part of the excellence initiative by the German Council of Science and Humanities and the German Research Foundation. DESK aims to foster academic and interpersonal exchanges between Germany and Georgia.

Being a study programme in economics and the social sciences, DESK offers regional expertise and at the same time promotes linguistic competence. This approach puts DESK - and the university cooperation between TSU and FUB more generally - in a privileged position to be able to contribute to a better understanding between German and Georgian states and societies, beyond bilateral economic and technological cooperation.

Professor Theocharis Grigoriadis from FUB’s Institute for Eastern European Studies heads the programme. Each semester a DESK tutor is on campus in Tbilisi and teaches throughout the whole semester.

Tutor in the Fall Semester 2023/24: Andrea Weiss

Tutor in the Spring Semester 2024: Tamar Ergemlidze

Prospective DESK students should be enrolled in TSU’s B.A. or M.A. programmes, highly motivated and with excellent knowledge of German language as well as very good grades. Preference will be given to B.A. students in their second and third years as well as to M.A. students in their first year. As a rule admission into the programme will be decided based upon on the written application as well as an interview.

The call for applications opens at the end of the summer semester for each subsequent academic year. The next call for applications will be in May/June 2024 for the academic year 2024/25.

For more information in German see:

www.oei.fu-berlin.de/internationales/TSU/index.html